


Falling Seems So Easy

by asharee_arie



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alec Lightwood Deserves Nice Things, Alternate Universe - Human, Background Clary Fray/Jace Wayland, Background Simon Lewis/Isabelle Lightwood, First Meetings, Fluff, M/M, Magnus Bane Deserves Nice Things
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-01
Updated: 2019-06-02
Packaged: 2019-12-30 15:47:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18318371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asharee_arie/pseuds/asharee_arie
Summary: All human AU - Alec meets Magnus and sparks fly.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This has been sitting in my draft folder for ages and I originally intended to write more but I think it works as is.

 “I’m going to murder you,” Alec hisses at Jace, stabbing his brother in the arm with the swizzle stick from his drink for good measure. “First you drag me out to the bar for this stupid group hang,” the sarcasm dripping off his tongue at the words _group hang_ make his feelings about this particular endeavor crystal clear, “And then you let me get sucked into a thirty-minute conversation with Raj who apparently thinks we’re meant to be. I just had to break up with someone I wasn’t even dating!”

“Woah, buddy, calm down.” Jace pats his back in a way that is probably meant to be reassuring but only serves to further narrow Alec’s already annoyed gaze. 

Alec forces himself to take a deep breath and remember that Jace is his brother whom he loves. Of course, his attempts to calm his ire are shot to hell when Jace continues with, “Sounds like you were maybe giving out some mixed signals at work.”

“I bought him lunch. Once!” Alec cries, attempting to stab Jace with the swizzle stick again, missing as his brother recoiled on his bar stool. Normally, Alec likes to refrain from indulging in this type of childish behavior, but it has been a _day_ and stabbing Jace feels vaguely therapeutic.

“Stop it!” his brother yelps attempting to swat the stir stick out of Alec’s vengeful hands. “Don’t blame me because you accidentally started dating someone without realizing it!”

Alec huffs in a few long breaths because otherwise he is going to shove the swizzle stick up Jace’s nose and attempt to lobotomize him which, on second thought, might actually improve Jace’s personality.

Before his revenge plot can fully materialize, Izzy slides onto the stool next to him with a cheery grin. “You look positively murderous, big brother.”

The obvious glee in her tone makes him shake his head in mild amusement. Only Izzy would think walking into the line of fire constituted a good time. 

Jace leans around him to fist bump Izzy in greeting, his words making Alec groan. “Alec is just feeling salty because he had to break up with his coworker.”

Izzy’s eyes go wide with disbelief as she slaps him on the shoulder, “You had a boyfriend and didn’t tell me?!”

“No,” Alec grinds out between clenched teeth, “We weren’t dating. My coworker is just delusional and thinks lending him a quarter for the vending machine is a step down the path of true love.”

“Been there, hermano.” Izzy puts a consoling arm around his waist and rests her head on his shoulder while flagging down the bartender for a drink. “We Lightwoods are irresistible.”

Alec can’t hold back his laugh as she gestures toward Jace and winks, “Well except him. I think everyone can resist Jace.”

“Not Clary,” the blonde proclaims proudly scanning the crowd for a glimpse of his red-haired lady love.

Not, Alec acknowledges with an amused grin, that Clary seems aware of her status as Jace’s beloved.

The fiery redhead knocked Jace on his proverbial ass the moment she’d moved into the apartment across the hall from theirs. His usually charming, smooth brother had disappeared in the face of her blindingly wide smile and he hadn’t reappeared since. Between Jace’s unprecedented lack of game and Clary’s seeming obliviousness to his feelings, all his former attempts to ask her out had gone hilariously askew.

On one memorable occasion, Jace ended up on a dinner date with Clary’s best friend, Simon, after Jace went overboard in his attempt to woo her in the style of the Spice Girls. _It’s time tested advice_ Jace had argued the next day _If I want to be her lover, I need to get with her friends. Platonically._

Izzy inclines her head in thanks as the bartender delivers her glass of Cabernet before directing another smirk at Jace and moving in for the kill, “Aren’t we here because Clary didn’t realize that you were asking her on a date and thought it was a group thing?”

The reminder makes Jace frown slightly before he shrugs it off and resumes grinning with his normal sense of inflated self-confidence. “A minor setback,” he concedes stealing a sip of Izzy’s wine, “I’m planning to be so charming tonight that she’ll ask me out on a date herself. Problem solved.”

* * *

 Alec feels his lingering irritation fade as he listens to his siblings bicker good-naturedly. The familiar back and forth is a welcome distraction after a truly terrible week of work, his second rum and Coke further helping to smooth out the rough edges of the night.

Beside him Jace suddenly lurches to his feet, his arms waving enthusiastically as he spots Clary weaving through the crowd toward them. The petite redhead is flanked by the ever-present Simon, whose presence makes Izzy sit up straighter on her stool and fluff her curls. 

Normally, Alec would take the opportunity to rib his self-possessed sister for her unusually obvious level of interest, but all coherent thoughts vanish as his eyes catch on the truly glorious man to Clary’s left. He is, well, perfect if Alec is being honest. He glitters all the way from his bedazzled high tops to his elegant cheekbones, his rainbow highlighter shimmering under the lights. 

“Izzy,” he hisses out of the corner of his mouth, “Who is that?”

“Magnus? He’s Clary’s co-worker. Hot, right?”

The distracted, off-hand way she relays the information makes Alec frown in betrayal. She’s been aware that this beautiful man exists and has never once attempted one of her ridiculous matchmaking schemes on his behalf. It is downright rude, he decides.

“You are unbelievable.”

The dramatic whispered accusation causes Izzy’s left eyebrow to arch as she drags her attention off the bespectacled nerd she seems to find attractive to look at her brother. “Excuse me?”

“You have tried to set me up with four different people this week alone and yet you’ve never even mentioned that Clary has him for a coworker?”

“I wasn’t sure he was your type.” A wide, pleased smile sweeps over her face, “Clearly, I was wrong.”

“He is everyone’s type.”

“My baby is growing up.”

Izzy’s teasing coo makes Alec cringe even as his eyes refuse to stop studying every inch of Magnus from the tips of his artfully-styled hair to his long, slim fingers to the somehow adorable hint of ankle peeking out above his shoes.  Alec is aware that he is being entirely too obvious about his interest, his siblings will never let him live this down, but it is hard to feel anything but _warm_ as Magnus glides to a stop in front of him.

“And who might you be?”

The question is all but a purr, and Alec is embarrassed to find himself instinctively leaning closer.

Alec opens his mouth to say something, anything really, when Magnus unleashes a lethally bright smile, all sparkling eyes and full lips, effectively short-circuiting all of Alec’s remaining brain cells.

“How are you real?” he blurts out, his face scrunching up in abject embarrassment even as the words fly out of his mouth. “I mean, I’m, uh, Alec.”

A shocked giggle escapes Izzy. “Smooth, Alec, smooth.”

“Abort, buddy,” Jace coughs behind him.

“Biscuit,” Magnus drawls out without ever breaking eye contact with Alec, “I’m suddenly feeling a bit put out with you for not introducing us sooner.”

“Join the club.”

Alec’s cheeks heat as he realizes the words in his head are still managing to slip past his lips.

He’s doing the math on how quickly he can make a break for the exit because, really, Alec cannot be trusted to be in polite company right now, when Magnus throws back his head and lets out the most charming throaty chuckle. The sound slips over Alec’s senses like satin, smooth and inviting, enticing him to stay. 

His brain is still struggling to come back online when Magnus takes another step closer, forced to tilt his chin up marginally to maintain their eye contact, “Is Alec short for Alexander?”

“Yep, but nobody calls him that.”

Magnus ignores Jace completely and holds out a hand in invitation, “Buy me a drink, Alexander?”

Alec manages a jerky nod as he tangles their fingers together. Magnus pulls him forward with a teasing yank that brings them close enough for Alec to feel the warmth of the other man against his chest.

“Guys, this is like one step away from being inappropriate.” Jace’s complaint falls flat when he instantly follows it up with a lascivious wink and an all too unsubtle thumbs up in Alec’s direction.

Izzy elbows Jace, “Shut it, Jace. They’re sweet. This story is going to make my toast at their wedding so easy to write."

Alec sputters helplessly as his siblings ignore all social norms and launch into a heated debate regarding which of them most deserves to be Alec’s best man at his hypothetical wedding to the gorgeous, tanned man standing before him.

“I’m a man,” Jace argues with an edge of condescension that usually ends in bloodshed (by Izzy’s hand, of course). “It’s literally in the name - best man. Chicks not included.”

Izzy scoffs, her expression shifting into something that Alec can only describe as bloodthirsty, “I’m his favorite sibling.” 

She shrugs as if to say  _case closed_.

Jace gasps in outrage. “Take that back,” he orders before turning to Alec. “Tell her that I’m your favorite.”

Clary and Simon watch the volley of words with matching wide-eyed delight as Alec wishes desperately for the Earth to swallow him whole.

“Guys,” Simon starts cautiously, obviously unsure if he should enter the fray, “Maybe, we should all get a drink?”

“Soon,” Izzy promises him with a sweet smile that turns sharp as she focuses her attention back on Jace. “There’s no way that Alec trusts you to give the best man speech. Your brain to mouth filter doesn’t exist.”

“Alec’s isn’t working so great right now either,” Jace shoots back belligerently.

“Kill me now,” Alec mutters under his breath, screwing his eyes shut. He feels the beginnings of a headache pounding behind his eyes. It is just his luck that not only does his brain seem incapable of forming complete sentences when it comes to Magnus but that his siblings have also gone full Lightwood.

A tender stroke across his palm makes Alec’s eyes fly back open to meet Magnus’ warm, amused expression. 

“I’m sorry about them,” Alec whispers, desperately trying to convey with his eyes that his siblings’ insane behavior is unsanctioned, and he shouldn’t be held responsible for the tornado of insanity currently swirling around them.

The soft, teasing strokes don’t stop as Magnus’ lips twist up in a smirk, “Well, darling, it’s your choice of course, but the lovely Isabelle seems the obvious choice. She’d look amazing in a tux.”

Izzy’s triumphant yell and Jace’s indignant gasp are little more than white noise as Alec raises their interlaced hands to press an uncharacteristically bold kiss to Magnus’ knuckles. “Perhaps we should just elope,” he says under his breath.

Magnus' eyes glint with humor, and perhaps just a hint of something heavier, as he smiles up at Alec. "I have a feeling, Alexander, that I might take you up on that someday."

Something settles in Alec at the words. A warm possibility surging through his veins until it tumbles out of his mouth in a delighted laugh that only makes Magnus' eyes shine brighter.

"You guys, I ship this so hard."

Alec startles, his attention abruptly shifting off Magnus to their friends who are all watching him with various levels of disbelief plastered on their faces.  Simon is grinning like a dope, clearly proud of himself for his announcement, while Izzy beams proudly looking ready to start a slow clap in his honor at any moment.

"I think," Alec says slowly, well aware that his face is somewhere between besotted and adoring, "That we should go get that drink now. _Alone_."

Magnus' smile is bright, happy and wide as he allows Alec to tug him away from their friends. "You read my mind, darling."

And, if some day, Izzy _does_ tell this story at their wedding, Alec finds that he doesn't mind. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just a silly little scene that I wrote back when I intended to make the original fic longer so I thought I'd post it as a bonus scene.

“I think it’s time to get pumped!”

Alec shot to his feet, his eyes wide with panic, “Jace, no!”

Ignoring the intrigued look on Magnus’ face, Alec shook his head wildly and hoped Jace would, for once, see reason. There wasn’t much that Alec wouldn’t do for his siblings, but indulging Jace’s request was pushing him a step too far. Alec would never get laid again if Magnus was treated to this particular Lightwood tradition.

“Alec, yes!” The zeal in Jace’s eyes made Alec cringe. He could tell from the determined set of Jace’s shoulders that talking him out of this was going to be near impossible.

Alec could feel Magnus eyeing them all with interest which only heightened as Izzy let a slow, wicked smile spread across her face. “It _is_ tradition,” she drawled, seeming to enjoy the way Alec’s mouth dropped open in shock and betrayal.

“Traitor!” he hissed, making a mental note to be thoroughly unavailable the next time she needed something from the top shelf of their pantry.

“Darling, I confess that I’m dying with curiosity,” Magnus stood slowly, smiling widely like he’d just been given a gift, scanning each sibling in turn as if to judge which would be the best source of information. Alec stared Izzy down until she mimed zipping her lips shut and made an embarrassing production of throwing away the imaginary key. With Izzy behaving, Alec turned his attention to Jace next, but Magnus quickly jumped in front as if to protect him from Alec’s intimidation tactics.

“Biscuit,” he asked over his shoulder, “Do you know what’s going on here?”

Clary glanced warily at Alec who waited until Magnus wasn’t looking and drew his finger across his throat in a straight line. “I might,” she hedged before earning Alec’s eternal gratefulness when she attempted to pivot the conversation, “Who wants to help me get dinner started? Jace?”

“Jace is otherwise occupied.” Magnus hummed excitedly as he circled the siblings, a veritable shark smelling blood in the water, “I believe he was about to… get pumped, was it?”

His gleeful tone made Alec groan. Clearly, he wasn’t getting out of this with his dignity intact.

“It’s just,” he gestured lamely, “A thing we do.”

“To get pumped up,” Jace jumped in.

“We’ve done it since we were kids,” Izzy added.

Alec sighed, “It’s silly. Really.”

Jace looked affronted at the description but thankfully didn’t argue. The next thing Alec knew, Jace sidled over to the CD player, his finger hovering over the play button, glee all but shining from his eyes.

Alec couldn’t restrain himself from rolling his eyes, but he and Izzy dutifully assumed their designated positions for their most embarrassing family tradition, participation in which had been mandatory since before any of them hit puberty.

Magnus was all but vibrating with excitement as Izzy playfully bumped Alec with her hip and Jace did the robot before hitting play on the stereo.

The familiar 90’s beat of Jace’s well-worn Jock Jams CD flooded their living room as all three siblings proceeded to jump and flail wildly for the length of the song, only stopping to yell “Y’all ready for this!” in unison. Just as they always did, Jace ended the song with a karate kick-punch combo while Izzy executed her own showy high kick with jazz hands and Alec did a half-hearted running man behind them. Committing to the same dance move for eternity was a responsibility that 12-year-old Alec hadn’t been ready to make because 25-year-old Alec just looked ridiculous.

As Jace punched the off button on the stereo, Alec could barely contain his amusement as Izzy folded over to rest her hands on her knees and pant, clearly out of breath. “Seriously, guys, are we going to do this forever?”

“You might want to up your cardio, Iz,” Jace pointed out with an obnoxious smirk, “You didn’t used to get this out of breath.”

Izzy gasped in outrage and pointed a stern finger Jace’s direction, “I just did that in five-inch heels!”

Alec dared to peek in Magnus’ direction, only to find his boyfriend watching him with stunned affection.

"Darling, that was…. a revelation."

"It's just a dumb thing we do." Alec ran a hand roughly through his hair, his head ducked in lingering self-consciousness.

Magnus stepped closer, resting a hand over Alec's heart, his fingers tapping along to the steady beat below. "That was the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen and I loved it."

His boyfriend hooked two fingers in the belt loop of Alec's jeans and tugged him even closer. "Now how about we take this to the bedroom and I'll show you just how pumped up I am."

Alec could only nod mutely, his brain shorting out at the promise in Magnus' eyes.

  


**Author's Note:**

> Find me on Twitter @asharee_arie or Tumble sparklyasharee-arie


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